


Living On

by Everything_Everything



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Character Disabled, Happy Ending?, One-Shot, Other Characters May Make Appearances, for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 18:40:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11561067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everything_Everything/pseuds/Everything_Everything
Summary: He scratches my chest as he grapples with the front of my collar. “Eren, are you giving up?”I take a hold of his wrist and wrench his hand from my shirt. “Don’t you remember what I said from our first conversation…” I stand with a new fire now boiling within my gut and hover my hand before my mouth. “I’ll kill them all.”





	Living On

I don’t know what I was expecting. For the captain to break down in tears, wailing over his woes for the world to hear? That would have been my reaction in a situation like this. Instead, the captain struggles alone - not seeking any aid - and curses under his breath. I can’t remember how I shifted back, but now I’m crouched beside Levi’s pitiful form, wondering if I should just help and risk being backhanded.

“Captain! Don’t move!” I scream, barely even registering my own voice above the surrounding chaos. The Captain lies on the ground, propping his upper body up with his elbows. All I can see are the heavy rise and fall of his torso as he inhales and exhales deeply. I can hear him trying to control his breathing, trying to gain control of the situation, but we both know control became a lost cause once the walls came crumbling down.

Within those walls were Titans only someone with Reiss royal blood flowing through their veins could control. It did not matter that I was the coordinate. Leading the Marley soldiers back to the walls turned out to be a terrible idea; we had only solidified their chances for victory. Zeke had been waiting for this opportunity - a day where he was allowed direct access to the royal palace. How could we have been so blind-sided? We’d become so caught up in getting Annie out for questioning, that we didn’t put much thought into why Annie was there in the first place? We all chalked it up to destroying us from the inside. Oh, how we were very wrong.

Now Zeke has all power and we, within the walls, are doomed. I glance around the hollowed shell of my abandoned titan form and hold back my tears. We’re still in the middle of the fight of our lives. Everyone is giving their all just to survive - we have no hope in winning this war anymore. My comrades are somewhere out there draining the rest of their reserves, Armin will surely run out of energy and stop releasing steam from his Colossal form, and the civilians are slowly being picked apart by the wall titans. And Captain Levi...I glance down at his mangled legs and see all of our hopes crushed along with them. That Female Armored Titan went straight for him. We all assumed their greatest target would be me and Armin - much like Reiner and Bertholdt’s original tasks. But, I guess, their biggest threat was Humanity’s Strongest, because why wouldn’t you smite the greatest Titan killer in existence?

She’s hit me so hard, that I went flying in the direction where the captain was stationed. I imagine that he leapt into the air and grappled onto a nearby building to dodge the flying debris my fall had caused, but other Titans were there to grasp at him. The others were too far away to help and I was too slow. I watched as the Armored Titan took ahold of him and squeezed with all her might. Gazing at his form, I suspect he has several shattered fragments of bone in his femurs and a fractured hip. I’m amazed at his control, but heartbroken at the reality of the situation. We’re all gonna die...Just like that.

“Oi! You fucking brat!” The gruff voice awakens me from my inner despair. “Turn back into that cursed piece of shit and get me back out there!”

“Captain, you’re legs...”  
He smashes his fist into the dirt beneath us and almost faceplants from the agony caused by the sudden movement. “I don’t remember ever making a suggestion, cadet.”

I pause at his sudden use of my title. He cranes his neck back with hiss and makes eye contact with me.

“I made a promise to kill the beast Titan, and I don’t plan on failing twice. Now you either get me out of this cage or I’ll do it myself. I’m not going to let some brat hold me hostage, while I let my comrades die in vain. If I don’t do anything, what was the point of their deaths?” He scratches my chest as he grapples with the front of my collar. “Eren, are you giving up?”

At the disappointment and betrayal pooling in his eyes, something within me snaps. I see mom in his eyes, begging me to live on. I see my first squadmates, eager to fight by my side because I encouraged them. I see Hannes protecting Mikasa and I, because he was inspired by my hope for victory. Strength is not always measured by physical feats or limitations. Strength is derived from passion and determination to persevere - something anyone who joins the survey corp understands.

I take a hold of his wrist and wrench his hand from my shirt. “Don’t you remember what I said from our first conversation…” I stand with a new fire now boiling within my gut and hover my hand before my mouth. “I’ll kill them all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 may be in the works...


End file.
